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Plasma Module

Plasma Module

Software for Modeling Low-Temperature, Non-Equilibrium Discharges

A square coil is placed on top of a dielectric window and is electrically excited, while a plasma is formed in an argon-filled chamber beneath. The plasma is sustained via electromagnetic induction where power is transferred from the electromagnetic fields to the electrons.

Tailor-Made to Simulate Low-Temperature Plasma Sources and Systems

The Plasma Module is tailor-made to model and simulate low-temperature plasma sources and systems. Engineers and scientists use it to gain insight into the physics of discharges and gauge the performance of existing or potential designs. The module can perform analysis in all space dimensions – 1D, 2D, and 3D. Plasma systems are, by their very nature, complicated systems with a high degree of nonlinearity. Small changes to the electrical input or plasma chemistry can result in significant changes in the discharge characteristics.

Plasmas – A Significant Multiphysics System

Low-temperature plasmas represent the amalgamation of fluid mechanics, reaction engineering, physical kinetics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and electromagnetics – a significant multiphysics system, in other words. The Plasma Module is a specialized tool for modeling non-equilibrium discharges, which occur in a wide range of engineering disciplines. The Plasma Module consists of a suite of physics interfaces that allow arbitrary systems to be modeled. These support the modeling of phenomena such as: direct current discharges, inductively-coupled plasmas, and microwave plasmas. A set of documented example models, with step-by-step descriptions of the modeling process, along with a user’s guide accompany the Plasma Module.

Additional images:

ICP reactors typically operate at pressures in the millitorr range and
produce much higher electron densities than capacitively
coupled plasmas. Inductively coupled plasmas are popular because ion
bombardment at low pressures results in a uniform etch rate on the
surface of the wafer. The surface plot shows the electron number density
inside a GEC ICP reactor.

DIELECTRIC CURRENT DISCHARGES: A small gap is filled with a gas between two dielectric plates. Voltage is applied so that any free electrons will be accelerated and cause ionization. Shown is the mass fraction of electronically excited Argon atoms.

MICROWAVE PLASMAS: In this cross-flow configuration, a TE mode wave enters from the top boundary and is absorbed when it interacts with the plasma. The white contour shows the location where the electron density is equal to the critical electron density. The wave is completely absorbed by the plasma.

Inductively Coupled Plasmas

Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP) were first used in the 1960s as thermal plasmas in coating equipment. These devices operated at pressures on the order of 0.1 atm and produced gas temperatures on the order of 10,000 K. In the 1990s, ICP became popular in the film processing industry as a way of fabricating large semiconductor wafers. These plasmas operated in the low-pressure regime, from 0.002–1 torr, and as a consequence, the gas temperature remains close to room temperature. Low-pressure ICPs are attractive because they provide a relatively uniform plasma density over a large volume. The plasma density is also high, around 1018 1/m3, which results in a significant ion flux to the surface of the wafer. Faraday shields are often added to reduce the effect of capacitive coupling between the plasma and the driving coil. The Inductively Coupled Plasma interface automatically sets up the complicated coupling between the electrons and the high frequency electromagnetic fields that are present in this type of plasma.

Direct Current Discharges

A specialized physics interface is available for modeling direct current (DC) discharges, which are sustained through secondary electron emission at the cathode due to ion bombardment. The interface allows for model inputs and contains the underlying equations and conditions for modeling this phenomenon. The electrons ejected from the cathode are accelerated through the cathode fall region into the bulk of the plasma. They may acquire enough energy to ionize the background gas, creating a new electron-ion pair. The electron makes its way to the anode, whereas the ion will migrate to the cathode where it may create a new secondary electron. It is not possible to sustain a DC discharge without including secondary electron emission.

Microwave Plasmas

You can use the Microwave Plasma interface to model wave heated discharges, which are sustained when electrons can gain enough energy from an electromagnetic wave as it penetrates the plasma. The physics of a microwave plasma are quite different depending on whether the TE mode (out-of-plane electric field) or the TM mode (in-plane electric field) is propagating. In neither case is it possible for the electromagnetic wave to penetrate into regions of the plasma where the electron density exceeds the critical electron density (around 7.6x1016 1/m3 for argon at 2.45 GHz). The pressure range for microwave plasmas is very broad. For electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas, the pressure can be on the order of 1 Pa or less. For non-ECR plasmas, the pressure typically ranges from 100 Pa up to atmospheric pressure. The power can range from a few watts all the way up to several kilowatts. Microwave plasmas are popular thanks to the cheap availability of microwave power.

Plasma Module

Product Features

Application-specific physics interfaces

DC Discharge interface

Capacitively Coupled Plasma interface

Inductively Coupled Plasma interface

Microwave Plasma interface

Boltzmann Equation, Two-term Approximation interface

Other physics interfaces

Drift diffusion for electron transport

Heavy species transport for ions and neutrals

Electrical circuits to add an external electrical circuit to the plasma model

Plasma Module

Dielectric Barrier Discharge

This model simulates electrical breakdown in an atmospheric pressure gas. Modeling dielectric barrier discharges in more than one dimension is possible, but the results can be difficult to interpret because of the amount of competing physics
in the problem.
In this simple model the problem is reduced to 1D by assuming the dielectric gap is ...

Benchmark Model of a Capacitively Coupled Plasma

The underlying physics of a capacitively coupled plasma is rather complicated, even for rather simple geometric configurations and plasma chemistries. This model benchmarks the Capacitively Coupled Plasma physics interface against many different codes.

Atmospheric Pressure Corona Discharge

This model simulates a negative corona discharge occurring in between two co-axially fashioned conductors. The negative electric potential is applied to the inner conductor and the exterior conductor is grounded. The modeled discharge is simulated in argon at atmospheric pressure.

In-Plane Microwave Plasma

Wave heated discharges may be very simple, where a plane wave is guided into a reactor using a waveguide, or very complicated as in the case with ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) reactors. In this example, a wave is launched into reactor and an Argon plasma is created. The wave is partially absorbed and reflected by the plasma which sustains the ...

Surface Chemistry Tutorial

Surface chemistry is often the most important and most overlooked aspect of reacting flow modeling. Surface rate expressions can be hard to find or not even exist at all. Often it is preferable to use sticking coefficients to describe surface reactions because they can be estimated intuitively.
The tutorial model simulates outgassing from a ...

GEC ICP Reactor, Argon Chemistry

The GEC cell was introduced by NIST in order to provide a standardized platform for experimental and modeling studies of discharges in different laboratories. The plasma is sustained via inductive heating. The Reference Cell operates as an inductively-coupled plasma in this model.
This model investigates the electrical characteristics of the ...

Thermal Plasma

This model simulates a plasma at medium pressure (2 torr) where the plasma is still not in local thermodynamic equilibrium. At low pressures the two temperatures are decoupled but as the pressure increases the temperatures tend towards the same limit.

Ion Energy Distribution Function

One of the most useful quantites of interest after solving a self-consistent plasma model is the ion energy distribution function (IEDF). The magnitude and shape of the IEDF depends on many of the discharge parameters; pressure, plasma potential, sheath width etc. At very low pressures the plasma sheath is said to be collisionless, meaning that ...

Capacitively Coupled Plasma

This application provides insight into the instantaneous and periodic steady state solutions of a 1D capacitively coupled plasma.
The geometry, pressure and applied voltage are all inputs, as is the frequency and number of RF cycles over which to solve. Aside from instantaneous and time averaged plots, global quantities for the power deposition ...

Atmospheric Pressure Corona Discharge

In-Plane Microwave Plasma

Surface Chemistry Tutorial

GEC ICP Reactor, Argon Chemistry

Thermal Plasma

Ion Energy Distribution Function

Capacitively Coupled Plasma

Dielectric Barrier Discharge

This model simulates electrical breakdown in an atmospheric pressure gas. Modeling dielectric barrier discharges in more than one dimension is possible, but the results can be difficult to interpret because of the amount of competing physics
in the problem.
In this simple model the problem is reduced to 1D by assuming the dielectric gap is ...

Benchmark Model of a Capacitively Coupled Plasma

The underlying physics of a capacitively coupled plasma is rather complicated, even for rather simple geometric configurations and plasma chemistries. This model benchmarks the Capacitively Coupled Plasma physics interface against many different codes.

Atmospheric Pressure Corona Discharge

This model simulates a negative corona discharge occurring in between two co-axially fashioned conductors. The negative electric potential is applied to the inner conductor and the exterior conductor is grounded. The modeled discharge is simulated in argon at atmospheric pressure.

In-Plane Microwave Plasma

Wave heated discharges may be very simple, where a plane wave is guided into a reactor using a waveguide, or very complicated as in the case with ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) reactors. In this example, a wave is launched into reactor and an Argon plasma is created. The wave is partially absorbed and reflected by the plasma which sustains the ...

Surface Chemistry Tutorial

Surface chemistry is often the most important and most overlooked aspect of reacting flow modeling. Surface rate expressions can be hard to find or not even exist at all. Often it is preferable to use sticking coefficients to describe surface reactions because they can be estimated intuitively.
The tutorial model simulates outgassing from a ...

GEC ICP Reactor, Argon Chemistry

The GEC cell was introduced by NIST in order to provide a standardized platform for experimental and modeling studies of discharges in different laboratories. The plasma is sustained via inductive heating. The Reference Cell operates as an inductively-coupled plasma in this model.
This model investigates the electrical characteristics of the ...

Thermal Plasma

This model simulates a plasma at medium pressure (2 torr) where the plasma is still not in local thermodynamic equilibrium. At low pressures the two temperatures are decoupled but as the pressure increases the temperatures tend towards the same limit.

Ion Energy Distribution Function

One of the most useful quantites of interest after solving a self-consistent plasma model is the ion energy distribution function (IEDF). The magnitude and shape of the IEDF depends on many of the discharge parameters; pressure, plasma potential, sheath width etc. At very low pressures the plasma sheath is said to be collisionless, meaning that ...

Capacitively Coupled Plasma

This application provides insight into the instantaneous and periodic steady state solutions of a 1D capacitively coupled plasma.
The geometry, pressure and applied voltage are all inputs, as is the frequency and number of RF cycles over which to solve. Aside from instantaneous and time averaged plots, global quantities for the power deposition ...